A door of a substrate container includes a latching mechanism for operating at least two latch members. The substrate container can be a front opening substrate container or a bottom opening substrate container. The latching mechanism can include a rotatable cam having a first rotational profile out of phase with a second rotational profile such that when the cam is rotated to operate the latch mechanism from the disengaged position to the engaged position, a first latch member engages a first corresponding slot in a door frame prior to a second latch member engaging a second corresponding opening provided in the door frame such that the latch members are operated in a staggered manner. This staggered latching configuration allows for the application of a load provided by the system to be used in the most efficient manner per latch arm or per set of latch arms.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
2. The substrate container according to claim 1, wherein the first latch arm is configured to move in a direction that is approximately orthogonal to the direction of movement of the second latch arm.
3. The substrate container of claim 1, wherein the first rotational engagement is defined at least in part by first and second curved slots formed in the cam and the second rotational engagement is defined at least in part by a lobe extending in a direction away from a central axis of the cam.
4. The substrate container of claim 3, wherein the second latch arm is configured to extend in a plane that orthogonal to the central axis x of the cam and parallel to a plane in which the first and second curved slots defining the first rotational engagement extend.
5. The substrate container of claim 1, wherein the first latch arm includes a first roller disposed at the first end and a second roller disposed the second end, wherein the first roller and the second roller are each configured to ride along a block secured to an inner surface of the door.
6. The substrate container of claim 5, wherein the second latch arm includes a side arm configured to interact with one of the first or second rollers of the first latch arm when the latch mechanism is transitioned from the disengaged position to the engaged position.
7. The substrate container of claim 1, wherein the second latch arm includes at least one slot that is configured to translate along a stationary boss located to an inner surface of the door.
8. The substrate container of claim 7, wherein the boss comprises a roller.
9. The substrate container of claim 1, wherein the first rotational engagement is out of phase with the second rotational engagement by ten to thirty degrees.
10. The substrate container of claim 1, wherein the first rotational engagement is out of phase with the second rotational engagement by seventeen to twenty-three degrees.
12. The substrate container of claim 1, wherein the substrate container is a front opening substrate container.
13. The substrate container of claim 1, wherein the substrate container is a bottom opening substrate container.
14. The substrate container of claim 1, wherein when the latching mechanism is in operation, an amount of torque associated with each of the first rotational engagement and the second rotational engagement is divided by a number of latch members associated with each of the first and second rotational engagements.
15. The substrate container of claim 1, wherein a set of latch members comprises one or more individual latch members.
19. The door of claim 16, wherein the first rotational engagement is out of phase with the second rotational engagement by ten to thirty degrees.
20. The door of claim 16, wherein the first rotational engagement is out of phase the second rotational engagement by seventeen degrees to twenty-three degrees.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
December 13, 2017
July 26, 2022
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